Winning the Carling Cup would be the springboard to a minimum top two Premier League finish for Arsenal, according to new Opta statistics (come, come, chaps – you know we’re going to pip United). Opta say over the past ten years the winner of the competition has achieved a 10% increase in points gathered for the remainder of the season, enough to guarantee a runners-up position at least.
Opta data compiled for this weekend’s Carling Cup Final reveals that for the successful team the average points haul per league game rises from 1.81 to 1.99 after the final. Winning finalists have also gone on to do well in other competitions with Liverpool claiming the FA Cup and UEFA Cup in 2001, Chelsea winning the FA Cup in 2007 and Manchester United winning the Premier League in 2009.
However, the stats say a defeat could spell another barren season for AW – over the past decade losing finalists who were still involved in all four major competitions ended up with nothing at the end of the season. This has already happened to us following their 2007 our to Chelsea before the Stamford Bridge outfit suffered the same fate a year later, ending the season empty-handed.
Opta Director of Marketing Simon Banoub said: “The Carling Cup Final looks like a genuine crossroads for Arsenal – the stats suggest that if they win, the outlook is very bright. If they lose, it could spell a very tough run-in for the Gunners. The football world will be looking on with great interest.”
Come on you rip-roaring Reds!
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